


Prom is just a conspiracy

by RougueShadowWolf



Series: 15 Minutes [118]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Always Female Stiles Stilinski, Bad Touch Peter, De-Aged Derek, Derek is a Good Alpha, F/M, Good Peter Hale, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2018-05-18 01:22:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5892676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RougueShadowWolf/pseuds/RougueShadowWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek didn’t want to admit it but at some point in time he wanted to be better, to make Stiles proud of him, to make her happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 15min is back around for another chaotic mess of stories, my pretty Vulgar-Voyeur (for now at least) asked for a thing with Derek finding out that Stiles isn’t going to the prom and with trying to be a good Alpha he feels bad about it. And not kidding that’s what she gave me and this is what I came up with, and I think the world is ending because all of my friends liked this…. I think I’ll empty my bank account now and just do all the things I want to before.

 

Derek Hale was certain that prom was a conspiracy to drive sane people mad, and he’d never been as grateful as he was for Stiles complete lack of interest in gushing over dresses and stupid dances, because it was rather refreshing to find a girl who wasn’t all that focused on the so-called biggest event of the year at least according to Lydia (and in the past his own sister Laura had said the very same thing but perhaps with a little bit more of a dramatic flair to it).

  
He’d been aware that the ladies like Stiles insisted they should be called instead of just girls, had left early that morning to the male out of town to fine their dresses for prom, and he’d been aware that they would return to his loft with their things because well they wanted to show him what they’d bought for some unknown and unreasonable reason, but as the ladies of his pack filtered through the door laughing and talking he was surprised not only over the amount of dressed the females of his pack had bought (with his credit card no less because he was trying to be a good and supporting Alpha) it was the lack of one particular human-female by the name of Stiles Stilinski missing that caught him off-guard.

  
Derek had been expecting the pale creature with gentle but strong hands and eyes that seemed to be able to look right into his soul and heart as well as mind without much effort, he’d been surprisingly eager to show Stiles the now renovated kitchen because he’d followed her advice to the letter.

  
`Where’s Stiles? ´ Derek asks the cheerful group of beauties, and yes all of them were beautiful in their own right and he could easily admit it but none of the girls he was now seeing had the power of him as Stiles Stilinski had, for the heavens above she was the reason he settled in the loft in the first-place and why he had been renovating it night and day to keep her comfortable.

  
`Don’t tell me she’s still refusing to use the lift?´ Derek had the damn thing fixed since Stiles got stuck in there for an hour before anyone noticed it, of course he fixed because he’d felt terrible when he’d lowered himself down and into the lift only to find a crying and shivering Stiles huddled in the corner.

  
Erica looks at him like he’s lost a couple of brain cells during his descend down the spiral stairs which Derek was going to have changed for something less dangerous, they were beautiful yes but not very practical with Stiles being human with a talent to trip and fall especially when most of the time she had her nose stuck in a book or her phone or a piece of paper. Lydia just did that face thing she did that told him she thought he was a useless idiot. Allison looked like she wasn’t entirely sure what was happening and Derek had to worry if Scott’s idiocy was contagious and Stiles was just immune to it.

  
`She’s not coming because she wasn’t with us.´ Cora says like it was the most obvious thing in the world that Stiles wouldn’t be with them buying her dress for the prom, which it wasn’t considering how the four ladies had taken it upon them to upgrade and better Stiles understanding of fashion.

  
`What? Why not? ´ Derek has to ask even though he’d been trying to keep his curiosity about Stiles to the minimum because of the way his uncle had started to smirk at him.

  
`I can’t say I’d enjoy watching my friends buying dresses for prom when I’m not going.´ Allison says from where she’s seated.

 

There are mumbles of mutual agreement from the rest of the girls, no ladies.

  
`What? Why isn’t she buying a dress? You did tell her it was all on me right? ´ Derek asks his sister who rolls her eyes and gives her that look of “Seriously Derek stupid much?” Before finally answering.

  
`She’s not going.´ Cora answers like it’s not the biggest news at the moment to drop on Beacon Hills, and she’s giving him that look that tells him she thinks he’s turned dumber than a turnip.

  
`What? Why not? ´ Derek asked and the repeating of what’s and why’s are really making him sound stupid which he knows wouldn’t happen if Stiles was there dealing with this conversation, that girl could drag out answers from anyone without asking much which just one of several reason why Derek needs Stiles in his pack, he’d be lost without her.

  
`Isn’t it obvious? ´ Erica snorts before settling on the couch he and Stiles had bought, or rather Derek paid for it after she chose it much like she’d done with most of the furniture that hadn’t been salvaged from the ruins of Derek’s childhood home, `She hasn’t got a date.´

  
`Erica.´ Allison hissed but Erica just rolled her eyes and continued.

  
`Oh come on, everyone knows it, so why deny it? Poor thing no one asked her, she was so desperate she even asked Greenberg but he’s going with that new girl than smells like fried chicken and onion rings.´

  
`Why can’t she just you know go on her own, ´ Derek asks although he would swear he wasn’t all that interested if someone were to question his questioning?

  
`Or with you and Scott?´ Derek asks Allison who shrugs while answering with a voice that told Derek that she was in all honesty glad that Stiles wasn’t going to be a third-wheel at her and Scott’s prom experience.

  
`Scott did say she could, but she said she didn’t want to be a third-wheel.´ Derek can understand that much, after all Scott would most likely not even notice Stiles during the whole night because of Allison, and yet he didn’t like the idea of everyone else going to the prom while Stiles just sat at home doing research or watching some movie while crying over ice-cream like his cousin Hannah had done when she couldn’t get a date for the prom.

  
`Just imagine being turned down by Greenberg that’s just has to sting.´ Erica says as she kicks of her shoes.

  
  
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The fact that Stiles wasn’t going to attend the dance bothered Derek far more than what he’d wished it too, he spent days  
slipping back to thinking about his cousin Hannah and how Stiles might end-up feeling as she was left to spend the night at home doing the same damn thing she did every evening, the similarities with their situation bother him so much that he didn’t even notice when Peter snuck-up on him one evening as he watched Stiles drive off in her Jeep a few days after he’ learned Stiles wasn’t going to the prom.

  
He’d asked her if she was really okay about the whole prom thing and she’d made an attempt to wave his concerns away but she couldn’t stop her hear or scent from revealing the truth, and it made the whole situation worse somehow that Stiles felt the need to still pretend around him she was fine with being seen as something less by those idiots at the high school.

  
`Penny for you thoughts dear nephew of mine.´ Peter says in that creepy sort of way he does when he wants to amuse himself by the expense of others, and Derek nearly leaps out of skin or out the window that still had Stiles handprint on it even after Derek had washed most of the framed pieces of glass that made the impressive window that allowed him to watch the unfairly dismissed girl. Derek’s eyes flash and he his claws are out, he still reacts by shifting to Peter when he sneaks up on him, he and his wolf don’t dare to trust him yet no matter what Peter says about family sticking together.

  
`Oh I see you’re a bit tense.´ his uncle says with a slight snicker, `What has you so gloomy champ? Did Cora eat the last cookie? I’m certain if you beg really nicely Stiles will bake some more, you know she can’t say no to you – well unless you are about to do something stupid, then she’ll scream it in your face.´

 

Derek can’t help but growl a little when Peter says Stiles can’t say no to him because she does say no to him a lot like no to the whole having a bed in downstairs where people mingle because a bedroom was supposed to be a place for rest and privacy.

  
`Come now; tell your favorite uncle what’s got you looking like you’ve swallowed a lemon? ´ Peter coaxes.

  
`Stiles, ´ Derek sighs and Peter snickers little at that but Derek ignores him, `she’s – she’s not going to the prom. Apparently she’s dateless.´

  
`Oh, well that is unfortunate – then again teenage boys are incapable of making wise or reasonable decisions, as are some males that are considered legally adults.´ Peter says and he doesn’t sound at all like an asshole at the moment, he almost sounds genuinely unhappy by the news.

  
`Pity really, ´ Peter says with a sigh, `I bet she would’ve looked very pretty all dressed-up and dancing, she maybe clumsy as a baby giraffe when she walks but oh when she dances…´

  
`What the hell are you talking about?´ Derek snaps rather than asks eyes flashing at his uncle who has that annoying look of “Wouldn’t you like to know” before deciding for once to reveal what he knows without Derek having to beat the information out of him or bargain for it.

  
`I’ve seen her dance,´ Peter says leaning against the table that Stiles had dragged to the loft from the Hale house, she’d had it fixed-up first of course and then brought it over and when Derek had tried to protest because that table had been where he and his family had dinners and family meetings when Laura got her bellybutton pierced and his mom wanted them all to know that the next one who got a piercing or a tattoo without her blessing would get a tattoo reading stupid on their foreheads; Stiles had grabbed his hand held it tightly and told him he’d lost a lot, a great deal of his family but if there was anything left saving they should do it because the people he’d loved shouldn’t be forgotten and buried completely under ruble.

  
`You – you’ve seen her dance? ´ Derek asks a slight tinge of jealousy crawling up his spine and settling in his heart.

  
`She was washing the floors, here, you were out doing something.´ Peter says a dreamy look in his eyes, `she plays the fool, the uncoordinated buffoon, but she can dance like there’s music in her soul.´

  
Derek reverts to his source of control which is anger as the thought of his uncle seeing something Stiles obviously didn’t want to share rubbed him the wrong way, and so he spits, `Well, she not going to wear a dress or dance for you so forget it.´

  
He’s about to storm into the kitchen to do the dishes he already knows aren’t there because Stiles would never leave him to clean up after the pups as she calls them, when Peter suddenly says, `But maybe you could see her in a dress and dancing.´

  
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

  
Stiles is soaking in the bath listening to music to fit her gloomy mood, she was trying to ignore the fact that her friends were probably by now all at the dance, all dressed-up and pretty. Stiles was determined to just ignore the fact that she was stuck at home, she would deal with it soaking in a bath then getting dressed in her comfy PJ’s and huddled up on her bed watching a couple of things on Netflix and eating all the unhealthy stuff she had bought to ease the ace in her chest.

  
But then as she’s about to start crying again the bathroom door burst open and she’s screaming like some scream queen before reaching for one of the towels to cover herself-up herself with when she realized Zombie-wolf is standing in the small bathroom while she’s naked in the bath.

  
`Stiles, there you are sweetheart.´ Peter says overly cheerfully for the whole breaking an’ entering into the Sheriff’s goddamn house.

  
`What the hell are you doing!?´ Stiles shrieks as she fishes up her phone from the bottom of the tub, or it was her phone now it was just a dead piece of outdated and now drowned technology.

  
`Telling you to get out of the tub obviously princess.´ Peter says like he’s not just walked in on a very naked teenager in a bath, `Do you need to shave anything or can we get started, wouldn’t want you to be late for prom.´

  
`What? ´ Stiles asks surely sounding even more ridiculous than she looked at the moment stuck half-way in her bath holding up a lost-cause of a phone, but before she can say another thing Peter his there grabbing her by the ankle and dragging his hand over her leg and that has her shrieking loudly because she had not signed-up for creepy-uncle-bad-touch fondling her leg while she was struggling to get out of the bath.

  
`Silky smooth. Excellent. What about the armpits darling?´ and suddenly there they are his hands underneath her arm, and if she didn’t feel so violated she mighty giggled because she was ticklish but instead she grabs the nearest thing which was a bottle of hair conditioner and just starts hitting him with it.

  
`Get off of me you fucking creep! ´ she screams before kneeing him in the groin when she finally got herself up and into a position that allowed it, with Peter groaning wit discomfort she makes a dash out of the bathroom, she’s in such a state she doesn’t even realize she’s only managed to cover the front half of her body revealing her plump behind to pervert-wolf.

  
`I’m calling Derek you sicko.´ Stiles shrieks as she rushes towards her bedroom slipping a few times along the way, and she’s frankly a little bit too busy to wonder why exactly the first person she calls these days when she needs help is Sourwolf and not Scott or her dad. However before she’s able to reach her bedroom and the bat underneath her bed or her pack phone the one Derek had bought each of them, she’d got a lot of bitching over the fact that her phone was the newest and finest one on the market until Derek had pointed out that with Stiles being the one doing the research it stood to reason she had to have a phone that would help her at it, the hottest looking seventeen year old guy in a suite that looks far too expensive to be anywhere near her house or bedroom comes rushing out of her bedroom.

  
Stiles is so shocked by the sudden appearance of a boy whom she does not know appearing out of her bedroom that she slips and drops hard on her ass.

  
`Stiles!? Stiles are you okay?´ the unfamiliar werewolf asks her and Stiles is about to kick him too or slap him as he comes closer but then her eyes land on the familiar eyes looking down at her with genuine concern the red gone and replaced with a ray of greens, blues and hints of brown, but then they are glowing Alpha red once more as they zero in on molester-wolf, `What did you do?´ the question barely audible through the loud rumbling of a dangerous growl, the sort that always made her want to move closer to Derek as long as it wasn’t directed at her; and when it was she just stood her ground or slapped him, or hit him with a rolled-up newspaper before telling him not to growl at her because she wasn’t one of his betas.

  
`D-D-Derek?´ Stiles can’t help but ask as she reaches out to touch the unfamiliar and yet familiar face, and the kid nods at her while remaining tense and moving like he’s ready to attack Peter who’s moving around behind her.

  
`I – I can’t take you to the prom the way I was so,´ young Derek says ears turning red, `So Deaton helped.´

  
`And me, It was my idea.´ Peter says from somewhere behind her.

  
`Wh-why, why would you? ´ she just can’t get her mind on board with what she’s seeing and it makes her sound stupid.

  
`Because I want you to be happy.´ was all Derek needed to say to make her heart flutter like a million little butterflies had taken residence inside it, `And I know you want to be there.´


	2. Time to be Brave

_`Because I want you to be happy. ´_ that seemingly simple statement left her feeling rather stunned. There's suddenly different sized butterflies flying around not only in the pit of her stomach but also within her now stuttering heart. Any questions that should’ve leaped out of her mouth were lost as the meaning of Derek’s answer consumed her brain.

` _Because I want you to be happy._ ´ to hear such words fall from Derek Hale’s lips, and for those words to be directed at her, well it was simply something Stiles wasn’t prepared for. 

Now Stiles was prepared for many-many things, the death of her mother no doubt contributing to her need to be prepared for as much as possible, and although her father might find her obsessiveness to be prepared baffling she _was_ prepared for earthquakes,  freak snowstorms and of late even zombie apocalypse; after learning that werewolves, banshees and a whole load of other supernatural creatures were very real, the possibility of a zombie apocalypse no longer seemed far-fetched to Stiles, and although she already knew how to handle firearms be they handguns, shotguns or rifles, Stiles had spent the past six months learning how to handle a crossbow, after all a crossbow was for the most part silent and deadly if used correctly.

Stiles was prepared for many things, she knew every way in and out of Beacon Hills, she’d checked the old roads to find which were safe to use if there was ever a need to escape Beacon Hills without being detected. Stiles was ready to handle getting kicked-out of the pack, to be dismissed by Scott, she was even prepared for the horrible possibility of losing her dad. 

Stiles was prepared for so many different things, and yet, she wasn’t prepared for this.

Hearing Derek Hale declare he cared about her happiness, to hear him say he wanted her to be happy, it was just a bit too much for her brain and heart to handle.

`I dare say nephew, ´ Stiles hears the older Hale chuckle from beside her, ` you’ve broken her. ´

Stiles turned her gaze from the beautiful eyes of Derek which isn’t easy, it never was easy even when those pretty eyes were trying to glare her down, but she does managed it this time and glares-up at the older werewolf who holds out her favourite bathrobe which reminds her of how truly naked she is.

Stiles can feel herself blushing as swiftly reached out for her bathrobe. Both uncle and nephew turned around to give her at least some privacy, Stiles carefully rose back onto her feet and quickly covered herself up.

`I’m sorry for wasting your time, ´ is the only thing Stiles can think to say, her voice was a bit too weak for her liking. She can’t even bring herself to look at Derek because he’d de-aged himself for her sake, and the knowledge that he'd gone that far to make her happy it did terrible and wonderful things to her rapidly beating heart.

`And I do appreciate _everything_ you’ve done, Derek. I really do. ´ Stiles did appreciate _everything_ Derek had done for her. She did appreciate every time Derek helped her and Scott out, Derek didn't turn his back on her or Scott even though they hadn't always deserved Derek’s.

Even way back when, before Stiles realized Derek wasn't a bad guy, back when Stiles had been suspicious and hostile towards him Derek had still been there whenever she needed him.

It amazed Stiles how Derek remained good at heart even after everything he’d been through, all the grief and pain he’d suffered could’ve broken him, all the betrayals he’d suffered could’ve turned him cruel and cold but it hadn’t, in all honesty Stiles was amazed by Derek since she was fairly certain if she’d been in his shoes the outcome would’ve been different.

Derek had with time become a superhero to her, a real Superman. 

`But I don’t have a dress, and…´ Stiles starts, ready to explain why she didn’t have a dress for prom or even one that might pass as one, but Peter  cuts her off his voice just a little bit too cheerful to Stiles’ liking.

 `And that’s why your favourite uncle is here to help you. ´

Stiles can’t help but throw a questioning and somewhat suspicious look at Derek’s uncle. Although she was to some degree certain that Peter wouldn’t hurt her, there was still a part of Stiles’ that knew better than to trust him blindly. 

`I’ll be downstairs, ´ Derek tells her, a solid look of determination and unwavering certainty takes hold of Derek’s beautiful eyes, `if he does anything, anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, just screams and I’ll come running. ´ The promise behind those words gives her comfort, there's no doubt at all in Stiles' mind that Derek will come running if she needed him.

 Taking a deep breath, steadying her nerves Stiles allows herself to be gently guided back into her bedroom, throwing one last look over at Derek who looks like a completely different person as a teenager, and if it wasn’t for his eyes then Stiles’ would’ve believed Peter was playing a nasty trick on her, but she'd always recognize Derek as long as his eyes didn't change. 

Hearing the bedroom door close behind her and Peter, Stiles turns around to face the oldest member of their pack, and Peter was pack whether he or the others believed it.  Peter was pack regardless of how Scott felt about the werewolf.

Stiles does her best to try and believe she would be safe with Peter. Still knowing that Derek would come running if she needed him made her feel a little less like having a panic attack.

`Now, ´ Peter started, moving slowly towards her in such a way it made her think he was trying to not cause her unease grow in size, ` I know you’d rather have your mother here to help you get ready. ´

A familiar lump appeared in Stiles’ throat. It took everything in Stiles to fight the tears that threatened to fall.

Stiles knew that Prom was just one of many experiences, moments, she’d never share with her mother. Stiles knew, and had known for years long before the death of her mother, that unlike other girls she wouldn’t have her mother around to share various big moments with, her mother wouldn’t be there for all the important moments that Stiles had yet to experience. She knew, had prepared her mentally for the fact that her mother wouldn't be there for the big things in her life, and yet it still hurt when those moments came to be. 

Breathing in a slow breath, steadying her nerves. She willed herself to not give her grief room to rise.

`Or even Melissa, ´ Peter goes on to say, and Stiles is grateful for the distraction Peter gives her as he goes on to say, `but I want you to know,that I’m happy to be the one to help you get ready for prom. ´

`Why? ´ Stiles has to ask, a smidge of attitude behind the simple and small question, a question that is followed up with, ` So that you can see me naked? _Again_. ´

A genuinely amused smile appears on the face of the werewolf that now stood before her, there was nothing vicious or cruel about that smile, and if that wasn’t strange enough there was something like fondness in the way Peter looked at her.

`Although I do find you beautiful, I’m afraid I can’t admire you in such a crude way as you are suggesting sweetheart, you are far too precious for the likes of me. ´ Peter’s evidently earnest response and the tenderness she finds in those blue-eyes, leaves Stiles lost for words at least for a little while after all Stiles could never stay quiet for long periods of time.

Stiles didn’t fight the werewolf as he directed her over to the all too familiar desk chair, and she did as she was told by sitting down as he told her to do, her brain seemed to jump back onboard.

`So, is this like a power and control thing? ´ Stiles asks rather harshly, eyeing Peter suspiciously as he moved to stand behind her, hairbrush in hand no less.

`Neither. ´ the werewolf responds as he starts to untangle Stiles’ hair from its messy bun, ` I’ve just grown rather fond of you dear girl. ´

Stiles can’t help but snort at that, people usually didn’t grow fond of her, at least not since she became a teenager at least, when she was a little kid people had found her antics adorable and amusing, as teenager people seemed to only find her annoying. A little child you could pretty much get away with murder, but as a teenager not so much.  

`Hush now, none of that. ´ Peter says rather firmly from right behind her, while gently starting to brush her hair.

`Haven’t I told you, more than once, that I like you. ´ Peter goes on to ask, and it was true that he’d more than once told her that he liked her, he’d even gone as far as to declare numerous times that she was his favourite.

`I’d go as far as to say, that you my dear Stiles are the daughter I’ve always wanted. ´ the werewolf tells her, Stiles doesn’t know if she should be touched by what Peter had said or be completely creeped out by it.  

`I’m not yours. ´ Stiles finally manages to say, her voice is firm and steady.

`Oh I know. ´ Peter hums while he continues to brush her hair, each stroke of the brush is slow and gentle, it reminds her of her mother; Stiles had loved it whenever her mother brushed her hair, often her mom would tell her stories as she brushed and braided Stiles’ hair.

But when her mother became ill, too ill to brush her hair or to be trusted to do so, Stiles had on her own cut or rather butchered her pretty hair, she’d never forget the reaction of her parents; her father had yelled at her, questioning whether or not she’d done it for attention, her mother had just dropped down onto her knees desperately trying to pick-up every dark strand of hair that had fallen on the floor. The short hair had been manageable, easy to tend too, and Stiles had kept it short for years.

Stiles knew her dad had been happy when she made the choice to abandon the short-short haircut, a haircut that had broken her mother’s heart, allowing the long locks she’d shared with her mother to grow was a big step for Stiles to take, certainly Stiles threatened her hair almost daily with a pair of scissors, but not wanting to face the wrath of Lydia kept her from acting on a desire born from frustration.

`Just indulge an old werewolf. ´ Peter says, drawing Stiles out of her thoughts.

`Fine. Just – just don’t be such a creepy bastard. ´ Stiles says, letting Peter do whatever he wanted with her hair, not that she could’ve done much to stop him since her bat was nowhere near where she was sitting.

`Has anyone ever told your hair is really soft? ´

`Oh my God! ´ Stiles groaned in frustration, she had hoped Peter would keep the creepiness that came so naturally to Peter Hale under control, at least for as long as it took for him to play the part of a fairy godmother.

`Will you _please_ dial-down the creepiness. ´ Stiles pleads with the werewolf that seemed absolutely happy brushing her hair, but just one look at Peter tells her he just can’t help himself. 

Crossing her arms Stiles leans back into her chair mumbling out a disgruntled, `Fine. Be creepy-crazy all you want. Just no funny business. ´

**~*~**

 

Derek knows he should head downstairs, he should head downstairs and focus on getting ready for prom, after all the last thing Derek wanted to do was cause Stiles any embarrassment. Derek was well-aware that as a teenager he wasn’t all that great looking, he knew he was nowhere near as impressive looking as a teenager as he was as an adult, and so he had to make more of an effort to impress not only Stiles but anyone who would see him with her.

Leaving Stiles, leaving her alone with his uncle simply wasn’t an easy thing to do even while having some faith that Peter wouldn’t hurt Stiles, and Derek was far more certain of Peter not harming Stiles than he was about Peter not stabbing _him_ in the back; Derek hadn’t missed the way Peter was around Stiles, he’d noticed how Peter stayed near Stiles when danger lurked, Derek hadn’t missed the way Peter would always make sure Stiles had something to eat when she was around, and more than once Peter had declared that Stiles was his favourite which was evident by the way he was around her.

Derek remains standing, pacing outside of the familiar bedroom of Stiles Stilinski, he keeps an anxious ear on Peter because Derek refuses to lose another person because Peter.

Hearing Peter declare that Stiles was the daughter he’d wanted causes him to pause, an ache blooming in his heart since Peter could’ve had a daughter of his own if the fire had never happened; Derek could still remember the way Peter had excitedly announced that he and his wife were expecting a daughter, declaring he was going to spoil the child that would never be born rotten.

`Derek, will you please leave us be. ´ he hears Peter say suddenly, startling Derek out of his gloomy thoughts that were weighed heavily by the guilt, a guilt that would surely never leave Derek be.

`Go, get yourself ready. ´ his uncle says, ignoring Stiles who asked Derek to stay, `Just go nephew, I’ll come and check on you in a moment. ´

`I’d rather stay. ´ Derek says just loud enough for Stiles to hear, he leans against the wall that still held remains of a drawing made by a little child, a little child who had to have been Stiles, a drawing that someone had made a valiant attempt to remove but that still remained. Derek hears Stiles thank him for going against Peter, and it’s such a genuine thank you that he feels a blush rise upon his cheeks, he can’t deny that hearing a genuine thank you come from her always made his heart do strange things.  

Derek settles to stand against the wall, doing his best to feel as comfortable as possible in this familiar yet unfamiliar body, he’d forgotten how his teenage body had felt, how light and weak even though it really wasn’t one or the other, this body leaves him feeling uneasy as it wasn’t the one he knew Stiles had always admired as did many different people.

Arms crossed and eyes closed, Derek settles, listening in on Peter and Stiles, focusing on the nervous heartbeat of the one and only person for whom he’d willingly de-aged himself; and for whom he’d do it again if she ever wished it, he’d handle the pure agony of the change for her any day of the week if it just made her happy, not that she’d ever ask him to do such a thing since that would be out of character for Stiles.

Derek knows that if Stiles ever learned about how much the de-aging process had hurt, how it had left him in tears and screaming in agony, she’d have a rather explosive reaction, there was one thing that really ticked her off and that was him enduring any pain for someone else, it didn’t matter if the pain came from him trying to save her life or trying to be the perfect date to prom for her, she’d hate it even if a small part of her appreciated it.

_Please, please, never let her know how much it hurt,_ Derek pleads with the universe, Stiles could be really terrifying when she was angry, something about Stiles reminded Derek of his grandmother who was as human as Stiles was but who still held such power that his own grandfather would bend to her will just to stay on her good-side.

There was no doubt in Derek’s mind that after perhaps a somewhat rocky start that Stiles and his mom would’ve got on well, both fiercely protective and yet kind, both strong-minded, there was also no doubt that Stiles’ loyalty and hunger for knowledge would’ve impressed his mother since they were the traits of Derek’s father as well as Peter.

Derek knows that Laura would’ve absolutely loved Stiles, perhaps not for the same reasons as their parents, but simply because Stiles was different in ways that made her fresh and exciting, Laura’s sense of humour would’ve matched Stiles, and from what Derek had learned Stiles had an appreciation for the same sort of movies and shows as Laura.

Stiles was someone that would’ve fit in his family like a missing puzzle-piece, and perhaps if things had turned out differently she’d still have stumbled into their Hale-pack, worming her way into each and every heart, and she’d do it whether they liked it or not just as she had done with him.

Derek’s thoughts are interrupted as he hears his uncle list the reason for whatever hairdo he had picked for Stiles, realizing quickly enough that his uncle was trying to make Stiles as enticing as possible, not that he needed to do all that much because Stiles was beautiful. It made Derek incredibly nervous to know what Peter’s plan was, even when Stiles wore just a pair of pyjama bottoms and a simple top she was beautiful to him, even when she was drowning in his clothes as she had done a few weeks ago Stiles was positively adorable. The most enticing version of Stiles, at least in Derek’s opinion, was the one that was relaxed in his presence, the one that laughed with her whole heart.

 Derek knew that tonight he wouldn’t be the only one to admire Stiles, and that made him feel nervous, it made him feel _very_ nervous.

**~*~**

 

`Ah, perfect. ´ Stiles finally hears Peter say and as he speaks she feels and hears him step-back, and as soon as there’s some distance between them she’s up and out of her chair.

Sitting as still as possible for more than a couple of minutes was pure torture, Stiles could handle a beating easily enough, but having to sit still for more than two minutes was to hear at least pure-horrific-torture.

The nervous energy that had built-up beneath her skin was so great that Stiles _had_ to move, she just had to move around and expel as much of the irritating energy that was threatening to drive her mad, and for once Stiles didn’t care how she might appear to the werewolf; Stiles paced around as much as she could, at times pausing just long enough to shake and kick her legs, Stiles moved her arms and hands like a demented person, she moved as many part of her restless body in hopes of avoiding making any unwanted moves when the time came to put on some make-up.

` Stiles, please, do be carefully with your hair, ´ Derek’s uncle says as Stiles bends down to touch her toes, `I spent a lot of time trying to learn how to make the most perfect hairdo, and trust me your twist braided up do wasn’t easy to learn, so don’t mess it up. ´

Not wanting to suffer once more the painfully tedious moment of getting her hair done, Stiles stopped moving at least in the ways which might disturb Peter’s creation, a creation that was according to Peter designed to show what Peter had called the slender beauty of her neck and shoulders; Stiles had wanted to argue against the claim that there was beauty to her neck or shoulders, at least there was none worthy of being focused on, but it had simply been a battle that wasn’t worthy of time or breath wasted.

Watching Peter setting down an assortment of make-up on her desk, the sense of dread that had bloomed within her chest after he’d revealed he was going to do her hair _and_ make-up began to ease, the assortment of so-called beauty enhancing products were few, and from what she could tell they were all cruelty-free and vegan friendly products which earned Peter a genuine smile from her; in all honesty Stiles had expected for Peter to turn-up with loads of make-up, bags full of the stuff, after all when the girls had given her a makeover a couple of months ago the amount of make-up used had been uncomfortable.

`Ready to continue? ´ Peter asked her once he’d set everything down, and for once Stiles didn’t feel all that worried about what might happen once she sat herself down in her chair, she took her seat watching Peter clean his hands with a couple wet-wipes.

`I’ll try to be as quick as possible this time around. ´ Peter promises her while he settles before her, and Stiles does believe that he does to some degree at least understand how difficult sitting still was for her, and for the first-time in a very long-time she believed he might actually give a damn about her well-being.

`If you need me to stop, if you _need_ to move, just drop this pen and I’ll step back. ´ the werewolf tells her while handing her one of her pens, Stiles gladly takes the pen because at least this time around Peter was offering her a chance to move if she needed too.

`Now I know that Lydia and the girls have made attempts to hide your beautiful little marks, but that’s not going to happen with me, ´ Peter tells her while tilts her head back gently, much in the similar way he had done as the murderous alpha that had sought bloodied justice for the lives Kate Argent had taken.

` They are a part of you, some might say a _distracting_ part of you, but a part of you none the less, and I’m _not_ about to try and hide them. ´ Stiles’ hears Peter say as his hands gently moved over her skin, a thin layer of something that felt pleasant against her skin, it was almost soothing both in texture and scent.

`You’ve got amazing skin, ´ Peter tells her and it sounds very much like a compliment instead of a creepy comment made a lunatic, ` I bet even Erica is green with envy. ´

`I think light and simple is the best way to go, ´ Peter goes on to tell her as he pulls back, returning soon enough and continuing to say, ` just a little bit of powder to keep the shine away. ´

There’s a surprising amount of gentleness in what Peter is doing, and it helps to keep her at ease, and with the soft voice Peter uses to talk to her Stiles struggles to stay awake and alert, she almost misses Peter saying, ` a little blush here and there, but only a little because you really don’t need much. ´

Stiles doesn’t need to drop the pen, not once, not even when she feels an uneasiness arise within her as Peter begins to work with an eyeliner.

`Easy now sweetheart. Just breathe. ´ is all the very focused werewolf says as he does his best to bring-out her eyes, and Stiles does try and relax and not to think about what is dangerously close to her eyes, and once Peter is done they both breathe out a sigh of relief before bursting out laughing as the tension leaves them.

 


End file.
